Patriots Rumors: Why Team Believes Mac Jones Is ‘Spiraling’

Mac Jones' tenure as the Patriots' starting quarterback could be over.

Backup Bailey Zappe took the majority of reps during the open media portion of Wednesday's practice. That continued for the rest of practice, according to a report from the Boston Herald's Doug Kyed, suggesting New England now views Zappe as its QB1.

Kyed's report also included intel on why the Patriots believe Jones is struggling so mightily. The 2021 first-round draft pick has been benched four times this season and twice in the last two games.

"One source believed Jones is lacking confidence in himself, his teammates and the scheme," Kyed wrote, "adding Jones doesn’t trust his arm, the blocking or coverage reads, so he’s 'spiraling.' "

That about sums up what viewers have seen from Jones, who's committed the same costly errors on a near-weekly basis since early October. Only two quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions than Jones' 12, and many of those have come while he was throwing off his back foot and/or into heavy coverage.

The Patriots pulled Jones at halftime of last week's 10-7 loss to the New York Giants and inserted Zappe, who also has not impressed this season. Across four relief appearances, the second-year pro has a 48.7% completion rate, 4.1 yards-per-attempt average and no touchdown passes, and he threw costly interceptions in each of his last two outings.

The Patriots will host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Head coach Bill Belichick declined to name a starting QB during his Wednesday morning news conference.